Herman and Itzhak were best friends late in life. I clearly remember my grandfather (Itzhak Ginzburg) telling Herman Taube stories and anecdotes of the present but, more importantly, the past, a past he was reluctant to share with family. Herman was a professional writer who dedicated his life to commemorating, interviewing, and remembering others' stories of survival; he had a genuine friendship with my grandfather. They would "giggle like teenage girls," my grandmother would complain as they chatted on the phone for sometimes hours. When I started The Ripple Project, I made a short film called Binding of Isaac, using my grandfather's words over images of the last days of an elderly WWII survivor Jewish man in middle suburban America. While asking Herman to "act" for the film, I would play him old recordings of his close friend Itzhak, who had died a few years before. While I was naive at the time to understand what I was asking Herman to do, today, I see what it must have meant and how painful it must have been for Herman to hear his friend's breaking voice. Beyond triggering Herman's traumatic past, these words have traveled from Itzhak to Herman; at that point, Itzhak's experience also became Herman's. This is what "The Ripple Project" is about; when we absorb and listen to others, we also take ownership of their story. That is truly a sobering and heavy weight to bear.
Itzhak on left and Herman on right
In preparation for a public event for the Holocaust, called First Hand, hosted by Dalit Shalom and Marc Dennis found this footage of Herman (on the right) listening to his friend's audio, the hand gestures, the laughter, and the tears. Thank you both so much... Love - Liron
